Whenever he was asked about preparing a role for the versatile Jeremy Chinn throughout the offseason, Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero always kept his answer under wraps. And unfortunately for the fourth-year defensive back, he left it there.
Chinn, who didn’t see quite as much action as he would’ve liked in 2023, took some time out to chat during this morning’s move-out session. He was asked, by FOX Sports Radio’s Sheena Quick, if his decreased usage from this past season was a surprise.
“Yeah, it really was,” he replied. “I think that was the most frustrating part for me, personally. Coming into this season, I thought wasn’t gonna come off the field. I thought I was gonna have a huge role in this defense, and be able to leave a large impact. But as the season goes, things change. Definitely was a surprise the way things didn’t end up panning out.”
The former second-round pick was essentially an iron man for Carolina in his first three pro seasons. Chinn played in 97 percent of the team’s defensive snaps in 2020, 98.9 percent in 2021 and 90.7 percent in 2022.
2023, obviously, was a much different story—as that number dipped all the way down to 38.7 percent. While Chinn did miss five games due to a quad injury, there were only three outings where he appeared in at least half of his unit’s looks.
Chinn, who is slated to become a free agent, finished his campaign with career-lows in starts (eight) and tackles (30).
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